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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoEamon Queeney | DispatchHollywood Casino Columbus’ property value was set by the Franklin County auditor after talks with the owner and South-Western schools, which will receive the largest tax payment.

Hollywood Casino Columbus will be taxed based on a value of $165 million — less than half of the
$388.6 million spent to build it, Franklin County officials said.

But part of what Penn National Gaming spent on the casino at 200 Georgesville Rd. covered
non-real-estate expenses such as gambling equipment; marketing, managing and opening costs; and a
$50 million gambling license from the state, said Dave O’Neil, spokesman for the county auditor’s
office. The $165 million covers only the building’s value, he said.

The auditor’s office worked with Penn National and South-Western schools, which will receive the
largest tax payment, to set a value and avoid a fight similar to the one that erupted when
Nationwide Arena opened in 2000.

The arena’s owners had argued that the building’s value was much lower than the $129.7 million
set by the auditor in 2001. Majority owner Nationwide said it cost $147.1 million to build but set
the value for the site at $44 million. Columbus school officials protested that figure, concerned
that the district would receive too few tax dollars.

The Franklin County Board of Revision later set the value at $156 million.

After a six-year dispute, the arena’s owners agreed in 2007 to contribute at least $1 million a
year to Columbus schools instead of property taxes. Nationwide later agreed to continue those
payments through 2015, even though the arena is now publicly owned.

In the case of the casino, “we wanted to set a fair value to all parties instead of just
throwing a number out there that likely would have been challenged by either side,” O’Neil said. “
We wanted to make sure that we gave the school district peace of mind of what the value was going
to be.”

Penn National and South-Western have told the auditor’s office that they will not challenge the
property value. The casino will pay about $4.6 million in property tax based on the value set for
January 2013. South-Western is to receive about $3.3 million of that starting in January, with the
rest going to other property-tax-funded agencies, such as Franklin County Children Services. A
small amount goes to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

The casino’s property-tax payments will help South-Western schools’ bottom line by offsetting a
loss of taxes from homeowners who successfully challenged their property values, lowering their
taxes, said Hugh Garside, the district’s treasurer.

The district’s budget is about $209 million this year. Property taxes make up 45 percent of the
revenue. The district serves about 20,435 students. South-Western is the only school district to
benefit from the casino’s property taxes because the casino is in the district.